Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Visit of Shri Kiren Rijiju Hon’ble Union Minister of State  for Youth Affairs & Sports Hon’ble Union Minister of state for Minority Affairs Government of India to ARN & ASI
Pune, 18th January, 2021
Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports visited the Army Rowing Node, College of Military Engineering, and Army Sports Institute, Pune on 18th January 2021. This was the first visit of the Hon'ble Union Minister after taking office to ARN, however, the second visit to the ASI.
During the visit to CME, the Hon’ble Union Minister witnessed the training methodology of Indian Rowing Team and facilities available for the ongoing National Coaching Camp at Army Rowing Node. The Hon’ble Union Minister complemented the rowers and training staff for their dedication and high standards of training despite the prevailing COVID situation. He expressed confidence on the future of the sport in the country and motivated the national team to excel in the forthcoming competitions at the international arena.
Army Rowing Node is located in College of Military Engineering, Pune. It is the only man made Rowing Channel with International standards in India. The Node trains Indian Rowing Team for participating in various National and International Rowing events across the globe. At present the Indian Rowing Team is preparing for the Olympics Qualification Regatta, Asian Paralympic Qualification Regatta and Asian Rowing Championship. Sub Sawarn Singh, Arjuna Awardee and Olympian, is part of the ongoing National Coaching Camp. The Rower is preparing for upcoming Olympic Qualifiers. Nb Sub TejasShinde, Shiv Chhatrapati Awardee is also part of the ongoing National Coaching Camp. The Rower is preparing for upcoming Asian Rowing Championship.
At ASI, the Hon’ble Sports Minister interacted with the elite Archers of the country attending the National Archery Camp. The core group of archers has five Arjuna Awardee’s incl three Padma Shree’s amongst them. The archers have already booked quotas in both men and women categories for the Olympics with few more to be earned in the upcoming qualifiers scheduled in the later months.
He also met the elite Weightlifters, Wrestlers and Boxers. The Sports Minister appreciated the efforts being put in by the Indian Army in maintaining the high standards of discipline which reflected in the sportsmen. ASI has twelve sportsmen who have already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics with few more to qualify in the upcoming qualifiers. Sub Neeraj Chopra , Sub Amit , Sub Deepak Punia , Sub Tarundeep Rai , Nb Sub L Jeremy  to name a few who have already qualified for Tokyo 2021.
Later he visited the Sports Science Faculty where he inaugurated the Strength & Conditioning gymnasium. He was briefed by the Comdt ASI with regards to the preparations for the forthcoming Tokyo Olympic Games 2021. Officers from Mission Olympics, New Delhi were also present during the visit.
The Minister complemented ASI for the exceptional training facilities being provided to the sportsmen for achieving their personal ambitions and meeting the Nations aspirations of becoming a potential world leader in sports. He offered full support in providing financial and administrative support to the institute.
The visit of Hon’ble Union Minister boosted the morale of Indian Rowing, Archery and otherTeam as well as individual sports participants, who are striving towards achieving the aim of winning Olympic medals for the Country.